Bombardier Transportation can now weigh rail vehicles to a high degree of weighing accuracy thanks to a solution developed by Avery Weigh-Tronix’s Railweight division.
Gross weight and weight distribution is important because overweight vehicles cost more to run and cause more wear on wheels, axles, bogies and tracks, while underweight or imbalanced vehicles can derail.
Rail organisations are setting more stringent requirements to minimise running and maintenance costs and maximise safety. To achieve the high accuracy, Bombardier must test the vehicles in a controlled building on a straight and level track (within 1mm) and where external factors cannot affect the results.
A test laboratory at the company’s Derby site checks the vehicles for gross weight and the weight on each wheel, axle and bogie. The weighline solution from Railweight measures to within 2kg loading on each wheel for vehicles weighing up to 40t. This means an accuracy of 0.05% per wheel, based on a four-axle wagon weighing 40t.
Data captured and reported includes the vehicle number, ID input, wheel, axle, bogie and total vehicle weight plus the time and date.
Railweight also supplied and installed a PC system with application software called I-Line to print out data as it is needed. This can store the data or transfer it to the site computer system as required.
Service contracts can be set up with Railweight, which includes recalibration every 12 months.
Weighline’s benefits include:
- Fast installation with no expensive civil and rail costs
- Provides precision data on train and wagon weights that can be interfaced with business systems via a PC
- Meets OIML R60 and R106 requirements for trade weighing applications
- Low ongoing maintenance costs